Moong Dal: Health Benefits, Nutrition & Recipes

Packed with protein and low on carbs, moong dal (also known as green gram) is one of the most recommended vegetarian superfoods. An integral part of the Indian diet, it is extremely light and easy to digest.

Compared to other dals, moong dal is low on carbs, making it a healthier option. One of the more important benefits of moong dal is its protein content. A 100 g serving of the dal can provide you with about 3 g protein.

Improves Heart Health

This yellow dal is rich in potassium and iron. The former helps lower blood pressure and protects against muscle cramping. It also helps protect the body against an irregular heartbeat. Its light and easy-to-digest nature make it a great food for those suffering from hypertension.

Rich in Nutrients

Moong dal is a nutrient-rich food. They’re packed with minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron, and copper. In addition to this, they also contain folate, fiber, fiber, and vitamin B6, apart from loads of high-quality protein.

Rich in B-complex vitamins, moong dal helps your body break carbohydrates down to glucose, and produce usable energy for your body. The folic acid present in it also helps maintain healthy brain function and in the production of DNA. Moong dal also contains some amounts of vitamin E, C and K.

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Moong dal is particularly rich in dietary fiber. A single cup serving can provide between 40.5 and 71 percent of the recommended daily intake of the nutrient. This dietary fiber content helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, while also preventing dietary complications. A high fiber intake also reduces the risk of overeating thanks to its ability to make one feel full.

The body requires relatively large amounts of protein, making it a macronutrient. The high protein content in moong dal makes it a great source of the nutrient for vegetarians. Moong Dal sprouts contain Globulin and Albumin as the main storage proteins. They make up over 85% of the total amino acids found in these sprouts. Make them complete protein by eating moong dal with a cereal like rice, roti, or millet.

The high protein content contributes to building and repairing tissues, while also being a building block of muscles, bones, cartilage, blood, and skin.

Helps Prevent Diabetes

Moong dal has a low glycemic index. It helps bring down the insulin, blood glucose and fat levels in the body. In turn, this helps keep blood sugar levels under control, and diabetes in check.

Improves Digestive Health

The consumption of moong dal helps produce a fatty acid called butyrate in the gut. This helps maintain the health of the intestinal walls. The dal has anti-inflammatory properties that prevent and accumulation of gas. In addition to that, moong dal has also been proven to be easy to digest, making it good for digestion as well.

Boosts Blood Circulation

Iron helps in the proper production of red blood cells. This, in turn, prevents anaemia and improves the overall blood circulation in the body.

The proper circulation of blood helps supply oxygen to various organs and cells in the body, and in the process, optimises their performance.

Nutritional Value of Moong Dal

Although they are almost the same, the nutritional values of green and yellow moong dal vary ever so slightly. Here’s a comparison of the same:

Green Moong Dal (Split with Skin)

Yellow Moong Dal

Calories

347

348

Fat

0.61

1.2

Protein

25.73

24.5

Fiber

18.06

8.2

Carbs

59.74

59.9

Preparation of Moong Dal

Select good quality seeds for sprouting. Clean and wash the moong beans and soak them overnight or for 7-8 hours (see to it that the beans are submerged in water). The day after, rinse the beans well and drain the water. Now, look at the seeds below. They should be swollen and plump. Some may have even sprouted a little.

Drain the water completely. Wet a thin cotton cloth, squeeze out excess water, transfer the moong beans in it and hang it loosely to drain the remaining water if any.

Then keep the cloth along with the moong beans in a vessel at room temperature.

Cover with a lid and leave it overnight undisturbed. (The cloth should be damp and care should be taken to ensure that there is no water stagnant in the vessel.)

On the third day, you will see that the seeds have sprouted well. If you are not going to use immediately, it can be refrigerated for 3-4 days.

Moong dal can be pressure-cooked along with chopped onions, tomatoes, chillies and ginger-garlic paste, and then tempered with jeera in ghee. Cooked moong dal along with jaggery and milk is used in Tamil Nadu to make an elaichi-tinged kheer called payasam. It can be soaked in water and ground into a batter for dal dosa or uttappam. Split lentils don’t hold their shape well, so they’re often cooked into soups or purées. Boiled moong dal is also used as a stuffing for parathas.

Moong Dal Recipes

Enjoy the goodness of green gram, and reap its many benefits. Try these incredibly delicious recipes.

Preparation

Wash the soaked moong dal thoroughly and drain the excess water.

Put moong dal, green chillies, salt, haldi and hing in a grinder and grind into a smooth paste. You can add a little water if required.

Pour the batter in a large container and check the seasoning by just taking a bit of batter on your forefinger and tasting it. It is important because once you have made the chilas, you will not be able to adjust the taste.

Now switch on the gas and put a pan on the stove. Pour a tablespoon of oil and let it heat. Now roast a piece of loaf or a chapati over it and then remove it. Wipe the tava with a kitchen towel and then sprinkle some water. Be careful and just move away from the tava after sprinkling water. Wipe it again with the kitchen towel.

Now again pour a tablespoon of oil on the tava and heat it. This time pour two big spoonfuls of batter on tawa and spread it evenly like ‘dosa’. If you are not an expert in making dosa and chila then start with small chila by pouring just one big spoon of batter.

When one side is cooked, apply some oil on the surface of the chila and then carefully flip it to the other side. While the other side it being cooked, just keep some chopped onions, green chillies, tomatoes and green coriander at the centre of chila and fold in half. Keep it for a second and then take it out on a plate.

Follow the procedure to make more chilas. Serve hot with green coriander chutney.

Nutritional Breakdown

Energy 71.7 kcalProtein 1.3 gFat 0.4 gCarbohydrates 5.2 g

Moong dal’s low-carb, high-protein content is the reason behind its many benefits. Enjoy some of these health benefits of the superfood by trying out some delicious recipes given above.

As the holder of a Post Graduate Diploma in Dietetics from the University of Mumbai, Alpa Momaya has always understood the value of good nutrition in an individual's life. She is a Registered Nutritional Practitioner (Canada) with over 15 years of experience in the field. Specializing in Clinical Nutrition, Pre & Post Natal Diets, and Weight Management, Alpa found her calling as a Sr. Nutritionist with HealthifyMe. Alpa's love for cooking and good nutrition has seen her contribute several recipes to the HealthifyMe database over the years. Additionally, she takes a keen interest in reading and painting.

Your blog says that 100 gm of Sprouted Whole Moong has 24 gms of Protein but when I enter the same data in HealthifyMe app it shows just 3 gm of Protein. Which one is correct? And if the app is wrong should I think that other foods are tracked wrong as well?

Is moong dal or sprouted moong beneficial for poeple suffering from Ulcerative colitis. The person is cured to agreat extent but is on a very light dose of allopathic medication and plus is using Homeopathy for the same. If appropriate

Mr Ashish, Ur thinking of drinking excess water from soaked moong is right, but it may chemicalized while in farming to not to get insecticides.
Better u boil the moong & u Can have good amount of water from boiled moong.

awesome Blog, Thank you, moong dal is high on protein which are good for skin. this can be used to prepare face packs and masks to treat various concern for the dark spots on the face. so people can try this at home. its purely home remedy and easy to apply and get good skin on your face.

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